A Different Kind of Love
by iloveromance
Summary: At 23, Carol Seaver is perfectly happy at Yale University studying to her heart's content. And despite the objections of her family and friends, she insists that she has no time for men. But an unexpected visitor during a trip to see her parents and brothers just might change her mind. A completely AU continuation of the Season 1 Episode "Carol's Crush"
1. Chapter 1

_**A/N: This is an extremely AU 'continuation' of sorts of one of my favorite episodes "Carol's Crush" that takes place many years later. I never really cared for the character of Chrissy b/c so I've written this as though the Seavers consisted of Carol, Ben, Mike, Maggie and Jason. This is just an idea that came to me as I watched this episode after not having seen it for many years.**_

* * *

As Carol slowed her car to a stop in front of her parent's house she couldn't help but smile. It was strange being this excited to see her family. After all, she'd spent years being embarrassed by them.

But she was older now and even though she was happy being away at Yale Law School, she found that she actually missed her parents and her annoying older and younger brothers; Mike in particular. They fought like cats and dogs when they were kids, but she still loved them, even though she would never have admitted it.

Suddenly a memory surfaced; one that she held in her heart:

_It was her first birthday away from home and she had to confess that she was feeling a bit lonely. Her parents were on a much anticipated trip to Rome and her friends picked that weekend of all weekends to go to a huge party in New York City. They begged Carol to go, trying to persuade her by implying that it would be a birthday she'd never forget. But Carol simply wasn't into such nonsense. Parties were for teenagers. She was more of an intellectual, much to her friends' annoyance. _

"_See Carol, this is exactly why you don't have a boyfriend!" Nancy said for the hundredth time. "How could you possibly turn down a trip to New York City on your birthday?" _

_Carol scoffed. "Birthdays are overrated! Besides, I don't have time for men."  
"Well, that's certainly not our fault!" Melissa chimed in. "Believe me, I'm getting burned out trying to find dates for you."  
_

_"And I appreciate it, Mel! I just... Oh never mind. You wouldn't understand."  
The debate went back and forth until Carol just couldn't take it anymore. And finally Nancy, Melissa and the others took off in a huff, leaving Carol alone in her dorm. When the door closed behind them, Carol sighed. At last she could get some peace and quiet. _

_As though trying to convince herself that being alone on the weekend of her birthday didn't bother her, Carol immersed herself into her studies. After all, mid-terms were coming soon (in about three weeks), but she'd always studied hard, so why should she stop now?  
_

_However, by the time Saturday night came around, she was definitely getting a bit lonely. She'd yet to meet a guy she was remotely interested in on campus, much less date one. And suddenly she wished she had listened to her friends (and her parents) and been a lot more outgoing. But there was nothing she could do about it now. _

_In a moment of pure desperation she even considered going to a bar for her own personal celebration. But that was definitely out of the question. It was best to stay put. The more studying she got in the better-and she wouldn't end up regretting it later. _

_She was on the third paragraph of the Second Act of "Macbeth" when a knock on her door broke her concentration. _

_This was certainly odd. She was sure that she was the only one left in her dorm, except for maybe the cleaning guy. He was forever trying to hit on her.  
_

_"Martin I told you a hundred times, I can't-."_

_Her mouth fell open in shock when she saw the smiling face of her older brother, standing in the doorway, holding some flowers, balloons a brightly wrapped gift and a birthday cake. It was the most wonderful surprise..._

_Overcome with emotion she threw her arms around him in a tight hug, nearly knocking him to the ground, but he didn't seem to care. When she opened her gift, she was thrilled to find a beautiful pink sweater in her favorite shade. The fact that he'd cared enough to spend his weekend with her touched her deeply and it changed their relationship forever. _

_It was without a doubt the most memorable birthday she'd ever had._

Now as she climbed out of her car, she found that Mike was the one she was most excited to see. She took a deep breath and smiled as she rang the doorbell.

"Carol!"

Squealing with delight she hugged her parents tightly. "Oh, I missed you guys!"

"Carol, you look so beautiful! You're all grown up!"

"Mom, of course I'm grown up! I'm 23!" Carol replied, not minding her mother's over-enthusiastic embrace.

Almost instantly her mother's eyes filled with tears. "I know. My little girl is a _woman _now!"

"A _smart_ woman!" Jason added.

To her own amazement, Carol's face reddened. "Dad!"

"All right, all right!" Jason said, holding his hands up in mock surrender. "Can't a guy be proud of his only daughter?"

"Oh... Well, if you insist!" Carol said. "Where's Ben?"  
"Someone call my name?"

At the sight of her little brother-who wasn't so little anymore, Carol threw her arms around him. And when he tried to squirm his way out of her embrace, she was reminded of her childhood once more.

"Geez, Carol not so hard!"

"You're so tall!" She exclaimed, not caring that she sounded like her parents or grandparents.

"Well, why don't we all sit down and I'll bring some snacks?" Maggie asked.

"Sounds great, Mom." Carol agreed following her mother into the kitchen. Before Maggie had a chance to protest, Carol was meticulously arranging cheese and crackers on a platter and pouring glasses of iced tea.

"So Carol, what's new?"

Carol shrugged at her mother's question. "Oh, you know... studying hard."

"Any... _interesting parties_?"

The idea made Carol roll her eyes. "Mo-om, you know people at Yale don't party! We're _intellectuals_!" It was a blatant lie but her mother didn't have to know that. Still it didn't stop her mother from launching into the dreaded topic that was brought up every single time they spoke to one another, be it by phone or in person.

"Now, Carol you know perfectly well what I mean! I'm talking about men!"

"Mom, please... Not this again! I told you, I don't have time for men!"

"I just think that if you had dated a little more often in high school-."

"Mom, I know you mean well but I'm doing just fine on my own!"

"Yeah Mom, leave her alone!" Mike laughed from the doorway. "Someday someone desperate enough will see Carol and be swept off his feet!"

At the sight of her brother, Carol shoved him playfully. "Same old Mike!"

The phone rang; bringing a shout from her father in the living room. "I'll get that!"

"Thanks honey!" Maggie replied.

As her brothers and mom stood in the kitchen, Carol found herself smiling once more.

"I never thought I'd say this, but I really missed you all."

"We missed you too, Carol."

"The Seavers are back together again!" Maggie exclaimed, starting to tear up again.

"This calls for a group hug! " Carol said.

"Well... all right, but don't tell anyone, okay? Wouldn't want them to think that we actually loved each other!" Mike quipped.


	2. Chapter 2

"Hey, guess who that was on the phone?" Jason asked. "Remember Jeff?"

"Oh yeah... Jeff." Ben mused. "I haven't thought about him in years!"

"How is Jeff?"

"Well Maggie, you can ask him yourself in about fifteen minutes 'cause he's coming over!"

"Oh Jason really? That's wonderful! It'll be so nice to see him again! From what I hear he's done so well for himself since graduating from law school!"

Carol swallowed hard and she tried to ignore the flip of her heart in her chest, remembering the guy she'd had a crush on when she was barely a teenager. Jeff hadn't crossed her mind since junior high and yet here she was with those same warm feelings again.

It was beyond ridiculous. He probably didn't even look half as cute as he had looked when she'd last seen him. And he'd essentially broken her heart.

How could she have been so stupid to think that a 23 year old guy would ask a fourteen year old on a date to dinner and a Gershwin Revue in New York City? The only reason he even offered was because his nerdy friend backed out.

But Carol was so love struck that she didn't see the truth in it. She was just his "little friend" and that's all she'd ever be. And it was just as well. She didn't have time for men as it was.

"Carol, are you okay?"

Her mother's voice startled her out of her thoughts. "What? Oh... I'm fine. I just..."

Mike scoffed. "She's probably just thinking about her finals again!"

"Finals, so soon?" Jason asked.

"Well, they're not that far off!" Carol lied. "I like to start studying early!"

"That's my girl! Mike you know I'm proud of you for getting your teaching certificate, but you could learn a little s something from your sister!"

The doorbell rang, causing Carol's heart to flip in her chest once more.

"I'll get that." She said; her hand trembling as she thrust the door open. "Jeff, how nice to see-."

Her breath caught in her throat as she looked him up and down. And to her stunned amazement, he was looking at her in the same manner.

"Carol? Is that really you?"

"I... Jeff... It's nice to see you a-."

Before she could finish her greeting, he scooped her into his arms for a hug, lifting her feet off of the ground. But the act wasn't necessary, for she was already floating on air.


	3. Chapter 3

Even after he put her down, Carol still felt as if she was floating and she took another opportunity to stare at him.

Gone were the boyish good looks, replaced by the most incredible face she'd ever seen. His hair not quite as curly but still wavy, his dark eyes and warm smile made him look as though he'd stepped out of the pages of GQ Magazine. In just nine years he'd gone from a boyishly handsome young man to drop dead gorgeous. How was it possible?

Self consciously she smoothed the imaginary wrinkles from her pants and smiled.

"Um... Please... come in." She stammered, opening the door wider.

He stepped inside and was instantly greeted by Maggie, Ben, Jason and Mike who uttered words of welcome almost at the same time.

"So Jeff..." Jason finally said when he was able to get a word in edgewise. "Anymore trips around the world? The last time we saw you, you had just come back from Africa."

"Right. Well, unfortunately my law practice leaves little time to travel. These days I'm lucky if I get to Connecticut."

At the mention of her home away from home, Carol's eyes lit up. "Really Jeff? You... come to Connecticut often?"

"When I can. I still have tons of friends who either teach at or attend Yale."

She could hardly believe her ears. "Oh... that's..."

"What a coincidence!" Maggie said. "Carol goes to Yale!"

"Really?" Jeff said in genuine interest. "Well, I'll have to come to Yale more often, won't I?" When he winked at her and gave her a heart warming smile, she grabbed the nearest sturdy object to keep herself from fainting.

"But actually I do have another reason for coming to Connecticut. You see..."

He launched into a lengthy explanation of the most prominent case he'd ever won; a human rights case that was centered in Bristol. But Carol was only half-listening.

"That sounds fascinating." She sighed.

At the ridiculous comment, everyone in the room started at her and her cheeks flushed.

"Well, I would hardly call it _fascinating_." Jeff said. "But I'm flattered just the same. Usually people don't find that story interesting at all."

"I do..." She sighed, feeling as though they were the only people in the room.

Mike however, took the opportunity to resort back to his juvenile ways. "Carol, please! That was the most boring story-."

"Mike..." His mother warned.

"Oh... Sorry, Jeff. I didn't mean anything by it."

"No problem Mike. And thanks to Carol I won't have to worry about changing the details to make it more interesting. I'm glad someone finds it entertaining."

"Y-you're welcome." She stammered. Oh God, what was wrong with her, acting like a lovesick puppy in front of this completely gorgeous and successful man?

"Well, I'd love to stay and keep chatting with you Jeff, but I really should get back to my paperwork." Jason said.

"Yeah, and I have some work to do as well. Big article due in a few days."  
"Right, Mrs. Seaver. I've read some of your work. You're an amazing journalist."

"Oh, well thank you Jeff."

"And Mr. Seaver, I was so impressed with that write up about you in the _New England Journal of Medicine._ Congratulations."

"Jeff, Maggie and I appreciate the compliments but could you do us a favor? Call us by our first names? We're family after all."

"Of course. Jason, Maggie."

Jason turned to his daughter. "You don't mind if I get some work done, do you? I know you just arrived and all-."

Carol hugged her father. "No problem, Dad. We'll catch up later."

After Jason disappeared into his office, she looked around nervously and her heart beat faster when she realized that she and Jeff were alone.

That was funny. She could have sworn that her mom and brothers were-

"Carol?"

She looked up in surprise to find Jeff talking to her.

"Yes?"

"Something wrong?"

"No, I just... where is everyone?"

"Oh, Mike and Ben left to go to some bar. They wanted me to come but I had enough of bars in law school. Get it? The _bar_?"

Carol laughed a little bit harder than she should have. "Oh Jeff, that's hilarious! We really should catch up sometime! Perhaps the next time you're at Yale?"

"Well what's wrong with right now?"

Her breath caught in her throat. "N-now?"

"Yeah! We're alone and it's a nice night out. Makes me think back to the night I left for law school. The stars were out and the air was warm."

"Um... Sure... Okay... Why don't I get us some drinks and meet you on the porch then?"

"That sounds great. I'll wait for you."

As Jeff walked out the door and closed it behind him, Carol found herself staring once more.

_"I'll wait for you..."_

_Well that's good._ She thought to herself. _Because I've been waiting for you since I was fourteen.  
_


	4. Chapter 4

Carol fought to keep her hands steady as she carefully walked from the kitchen through the living room en route to the porch. The thought of accidentally tripping and spilling the tray holding two glasses of ice cold lemonade and the plate of her homemade banana bread made her cringe. It would no doubt be the second most humiliating moment of her life; the first being the day she'd so stupidly assumed that Jeff was taking her out on a real date.

Funny, because she hadn't thought about that disastrous event in years. And yet in the last hour or so it had completely consumed her mind. Strangely, Jeff didn't seem to remember. Or if he did, he made no mention of it.

As slowly as possible, she sat the tray on a nearby table and opened the door. "Sorry it took me so long. I was just-."

"Here, let me get that for you." He said, moving past her to grab the tray. "Wow, you didn't have to go to all this trouble!"

"Oh, no trouble at all." She said, unable to hide the nervousness in her voice.

"It must have taken you all day to make this... what is this? Banana bread? It sure smells good. How did you know that this was my favorite?"

Her cheeks flushed and she wondered if he really meant what he said or if he was just being nice. And then she realized that she didn't care.

"Oh, lucky guess... I guess."

"Well, you certainly didn't need to go to all of this trouble for me. I'm hardly worth it."

"Are you kidding? You're more than worth it!"

It was only when he smiled at her that she realized she'd spoken out loud, thus creating a new humiliating moment. "Oh God... I'm sorry if I embarrassed you. I was just-."

"I'm not embarrassed." He said, taking a bite of banana bread. "Wow, this is wonderful Carol. You're an excellent baker, not to mention quick! I've never known anyone to bake an entire loaf of banana bread in just a matter of minutes. Must be something new they teach at Yale."

Again, Carol laughed, harder than she should. "Oh Jeff, you have the most wonderful sense of humor! A-actually I baked this a few days ago. I brought it with me when I came to visit my-."

For a few moments, neither of them spoke and instead sat quietly eating their banana bread and sipping their lemonade.

"It's such a beautiful night." Carol sighed as she stared into the heavens. "The stars are out, the moon is full. It's so romantic."

"Yeah, it really is. But... you're not into that sort of thing, are you?"

She swallowed hard, suddenly finding it hard to breathe. "I-I..."

"Yeah, I didn't think so." He said sighing deeply. "And that's really too bad because there's something I've wanted to do for a long, long time."

"Y-you have? But you're a successful lawyer and you've been around the world so I can't imagine what else you could possibly-."

Like a dream come true, she found herself swept up in his kiss. His arm went around her shoulders, drawing her close until there was nothing left to do but give into her emotions. And she did so willingly. She couldn't remember the last time she'd been kissed this way or when she'd ever felt so loved.

Even if it wasn't true love-or love at all, she felt something and she knew that he felt it too. And at that moment, it was nearly impossible to pull away. But when it became difficult to breathe, she drew back with great reluctance.

"Wow... That was..."

"Unexpected." She finished, running her hand through her hair. "Jeff, I..."

"I'm sorry if I made you uncomfortable."

"Oh, you didn't. I was just... Did you mean what you said? You've been wanting to kiss me for a long, long time?"

"You have no idea."

"Um... H-how long, exactly?"

"Well, I believe I was twenty three and you were fourteen."

Carol couldn't believe what she was hearing. "Y-you wanted to kiss me back then?"

"Yes. But I'm glad I didn't because this was so worth the wait."


	5. Chapter 5

Her heart racing, Carol stared into his beautiful eyes. "Jeff? Can I ask you something?"

"Sure."

"This may sound silly, but... if you're ever... I don't know... say anywhere near Yale... Would you... maybe want to see a movie or something? A-As friends of course. U-unless your girlfriend objects to the idea. I-I mean, I wouldn't want to interfere."

"I don't have a girlfriend." Jeff replied, bringing a flood of relief. "But I have a feeling that your boyfriend might not be too happy about it."

"M-my... Oh... Well I don't..."

"I wouldn't want to upset Richie."

Carol was stunned. "Y-you mean our paper boy? Gosh, I haven't thought about him in years!"

"Really? Because from the looks of things it seemed like you and he were pretty serious."

"Oh, well we never-."

"I can't imagine anyone not falling in love with you Carol. Surely you've had at least one special guy in your life."

She sighed, thinking of the boy she loved so long ago. "Well, there was Bobby."  
"Bobby? Tell me about him."

"That was ages ago! I can barely remember-."

"He must have been pretty special, judging from the look in your eyes."

"H-he was. H-he was Captain of the Dewey High football team and I loved him so much. We even tried to elope! Isn't that stupid?"

"Not at all. So why didn't you?"

The question made her laugh. "We were kids! We had no business getting married~! But then after we thought about it, we realized that we didn't really belong together, so we just...ended it. I never cried so much in my life; except when Sandy died."

"Who's Sandy?"

She sighed deeply, wishing she'd never brought it up. "Another one of my boyfriends. He... He died after a drunk driving accident."

"I'm so sorry, Carol."

"It's not your fault. We were kids and-."  
His arms went around her, drawing her close. "I'm sorry you were hurt so badly."

"Jeff, really. It's okay. It was-."

He kissed her again and she gave into it even more than before. If this was a dream... well...She didn't want to think about that possibility.

He drew back unexpectedly and kissed her forehead. "You're so beautiful, Carol."

"So are you." She said, cringing at how stupid it sounded.

"I really should go. I'm sure you're anxious to catch up with your parents and Mike and Ben."

"Who?"

He laughed and touched her cheek. "Your family? The people you really came here to see?"

"Oh, right. I guess I should. Well, it was nice seeing you again, Jeff. Do keep in touch."

"Carol?"

With the tray in her hands, she turned to look at him. "Yes?"

"About what you said... me coming to Yale?"

"Yeah?"

"How's next weekend sound? I haven't been there in a while and I was thinking I could swing by and pick you up. We could go into New York City. I hear there's a Gershwin Revue playing at the theatre on 45th. And then we could get dinner afterwards?"

"A-are you asking me on a date? Like a real date?"

"Yeah. I guess I am. That's okay, isn't it?"

Her hand went to her heart. "Of course it's okay! Oh, but wait..."

"Something wrong?"

"No, but... It's just that there's a Lauren Bacall Film Festival next weekend and I really wanted to go."

"Even better."

"What?"

"I love Lauren Bacall. She and Humphrey Bogart were just..."

"Magical."

"Magical."

She gasped in surprise stunned that they had said the same word at the same time.

"So it's a date?"

"Um... yes."

"All right then. I'll see you next weekend."

"Oh right. Just... let me give you my number." Her heart raced as she looked around frantically trying to find a pen.

"Don't worry about it. I'll find you. No matter how long it takes. Goodnight, Carol."

When she stared at him in disbelief, he kissed her lips once more followed by a touch on her shoulder as he turned to go back to his car.

As she watched him drive away, she was barely aware that her mother was standing behind her.

"So, did you and Jeff catch up on old times?" Maggie asked.

"Uh huh..." Carol replied dreamily.

"He's such a nice man. But it's really too bad that you say you have no time for romance. Men like him are hard to find."

"Mom, I-."

"I'm sorry Carol. I completely understand. Not dating is your decision and you know that your father, Ben, Mike and I will support you no matter what you do."

"Actually I've been thinking... falling in love isn't so bad after all."

And before her mother could respond, Carol picked up the tray containing the empty plate and glasses and carried it inside, unable to get Jeff out of her mind.

Who knew that a simple crush would turn into something so wonderful? And she hoped it would last forever.

**THE END**


End file.
